Austria's federal railway company ÖBB rely on TÜV SÜD's experience to ensure safety in rail traffic
Austria's federal railway company ÖBB rely on TÜV SÜD's experience to ensure safety in rail traffic
The Austrian federal railway company ÖBB has taken a giant step towards harmonizing European rail transport by calling in the Berlin-based TÜV SÜD subsidiary SIGNON, one of the largest independent service providers in technical railway equipment, as a partner for its introduction of the European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 2. The new technology will be installed along a total of almost 600 kilometres of rail routes in the next three years. The experts at SIGNON will provide support for their European neighbours throughout the process, from planning and project design up to concrete implementation and inspection.
From Vienna to St. Pölten or from Kufstein to the Brenner, Austria's railway routes will gradually be upgraded with the new ETCS Level 2 system in compliance with European safety standards. In a key innovative advancement from ETCS Level 1, in which data transmitters located in the track bed delivered information on aspects including speed or the correct route, ETCS Level 2 technology communicates all information wirelessly to the trains using GSM-R (Global System Mobile Communications – Railway). The new system functions without conventional acoustic or visual signals, thus enhancing safety and reliability. Klaus Bosch, Managing Director of TÜV SÜD Rail, comments, "Austria's upgrading of its railways to ETCS Level 2 represents a major step forward towards standardizing signalling technology along all of Europe's rail routes. The experts at our subsidiary SIGNON will support ÖBB throughout the entire process chain, from planning and project design to consulting and finally to concrete implementation."
In an initial phase, the specialists defined the basic technical and operational parameters for the deployment of ETCS Level 2 in Austria and drafted standardized rules and regulations for planning all future ETCS projects on rail routes in the country, including definitions of technical interfaces and management of cryptographic keys for secure GSM-R transmission technology.
The service package supplied by the railway technology experts also includes support and surveillance of subcontractors plus safety-related tests and acceptance procedures. In addition, the contract covers the complete execution and detailed planning for works in the fields of electrical engineering, telecommunications and tunnel transmission.
The large-scale project will once again enable TÜV SÜD Rail to demonstrate its performance and partnership in implementing international rail projects. In previous years the company had focused on expanding its range of services in the fields of planning inspection and acceptance of control and safety systems, combining the companies ISV mbH, INGENO Europrojekte GmbH and ECG AG under the umbrella of SIGNON for this purpose. Impetus for this strategy was given by the sharp increase in demand for planning and inspection services when further standardization measures were introduced in European train control systems. By pursuing its strategy, TÜV SÜD Rail successfully strengthened its position as a bidder for major international rail projects. Bosch explains, "The concentration of expertise under the umbrella of SIGNON enables us to provide more comprehensive single-source services for our customers. This is a key factor in our success in winning rail project tenders, which – as the example of ÖBB shows – are increasingly won by bidders that combine all the necessary technical fields."
This applies particularly to international tenders. From Abu Dhabi to South Africa and Turkey, demand for German expertise in the realization of major rail projects has never been so high. In addition to Austria, TÜV SÜD Rail is currently involved in rail projects in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands and also supports selected projects in Eastern European countries, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The service portfolio of TÜV SÜD Rail is directed at infrastructure companies, rail transport companies, regulatory authorities and railway ministries all over the world. Its customers also number developers representing railway organizations and industrial suppliers.
Further information is available at www.tuev-sued.de/rail.
Contact: Frank Volk